Clutch



H. J. WIDIWAIER.

CLUTCH. APPLICATION FILED` '001. 5. 1920.

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HARRY 5. "Vifllll/IER, OF FHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA CLUTGH.

Specification of Letters Yatent.

Patented Aug. d, 15222.

Application filed. October 5, 1920. Serial No. 414,776.

To all fw lim/t t may conce/Mi Se it known that l, llannr J'. lilnmnirnn, a i 'sin of the United States, residing at 7Jrhiladelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have 'invented new and useful lmproveiuent in Clutches, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference beine' had to the accouipanyingl drawings, which forni a part of this specification.

rfhis invention relates to clutches of the positive type, and is designed to provide a simple clutch of this type whiclris arranged to drive in either direction and which can be connected and disconnected when the driving member is rotated.

lfig. 1 is longitudinal section through one forni of clutch, made in accordance with my invention.

F 2 is a. face view of the clutch with the shaft and spline in section.

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of the shaft, on a larger scale, showing the spline in position in its seat.

ln these dra-wings, 5 designates the shaft to be driven, and which in turn drives other shafts or a machine through the medium of suitable driving connections. laounted on the shaft 5 between collars 6 and l is a pulley 8 whirh is adapted to be continuously driven from a suitable source of power, and which is arranged to be connected to the shaft, as hereinafter described. The collars 6 and 7 are secured to the shaft 5 and retain the pulley S aga-inst longitudinal `inovenient along,` the shaft.

Mounted for radial movement in open ings in annular flanges 9 and 10 formed integrally with the hub of the pulley 8 are a plurality of pins 11. Those pins 11 are held in their inward position by prings 12 which engage collars 13 on the pins 1l. and the flange 10. The collars 13 may besecured to the pins 11. by means of screws or tapered through pins, but are so positioned that when the pins are in their inward position the inner ends of the pins 11 will just clear the shaft 5. rlhese pins 11 are arranged to connect the pulley 8 in drivingl relation with the shaft 5, through the medium of a spline 14, which is slidably mounted in a key way 15 in the shaft 5. rEhe spline 111 is adapted `to be moved alongthe shaft in the lrey way by a collar 16 seated in a recess 1T in the end of the spline 14.-. Tlie-'cell.ar 16 is provided lportion 1S, the sides of which are radial,

and are arranged. to be engaged by the ends of the pins 11, which are also tapered so as to i'orm a line engagement with the driving portions of the spline, see Figure 2. @ne end of the driving` portion is tapered as indicated at 19, while the portion 20 is of arcuate form, tov form a continuous surface under the pins 11, when the spline is withdrawn to disconnect the pulley 8.

21 is a collar secured to the shaft 5 and is provided with a slot through which the driving portion of the spline is adapted to slide. The collar 7 is also slotted for the reception of the spline and when the parts are in i driving connection, the collars l and 21 reinforce the spline against the shearing stresses of the pins 11 when so connected.

ln Fig'. 1 the spline is retracted and the pulley is free to rotate on the shaft 5. Then it is desired to connect the shaft 5 to the pulley, which may be continuously driven in either direction. the collar 16 is shifted to the left by the shifting lever (not shown) a suflicient distance to carry the beveled or tapered portion 19 into the slot in the collar 7, and during` its movement it will raise one of pins 11, as shown in F 2, and the next pin will engage the flaring driving portion on the side of the spline 18 and rotate the shaft.

in the structure shown there is a certain amount of lost motion between the pins 11 and the spline, but if desired, the spline can he arranged to fill the space between alternate pins by increasing' the number of pins or by increasing` the width of the spline.

Having now fully described my invention, what ll claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is :m

1. A clutch element having a plurality of radially disposed spring-pressed pins, a driven shaft, a lined member on each side of said pins secured to the shaft, there being a groove between said members in which said pins are adapted to travel when the clutch is disengaged, and a movable member arranged to be moved across said groove into driving engagement with said pins and both fixed members.

2. A clutch comprising a driving and a driven member, one oisaid `members having a plurality of `spring-pressed radial pins, and a sliding spline on the other member arranged to be shifted into driving engagement between two pins and under a pin between said two pins.

3. A clutch comprising a drivingl andia driven member, one of said members hav ing a plurality of spring-pressed radial pins, and a sliding spline on the other member arranged to be shifted into driving engagement between two pins and under a pin between said two pins, saidA spline having` a tapered portion arranged to' raise said last mentioned pin when the spline` is shii'ted into driving'relation.

Ll. vlhe combination with a shaft having a pulley loosely mounted thereon, collars on 'the sha'iit for retaining the pulley against endwise movement', spring-pressed radial pins in the pulley, of a spline slidably mounted in a key slot in the shaft arranged to be shifted intoy driving connection be` tween two of said pins and under ya pin between said two pins, said spline having a wedge-shaped portion for raising said last mentioned pin land `means for shitting said spline. n

5. rthe combination with a sha-ft having a pulley loosely mounted thereon, collars on the shaft ytor retaining the pulley against en'dwise 'moyement, spring-pressed radial pins in the pulley, ot a sline slidably mounted in a key slot-in the si'a'iit Varranged to bek shifted into driving connection between two of said pinsand under a pin between said two pins, said spline having a wedge-shaped portion" for raising said last mentioned pin and a grooved collar slidably mounted on the shaft for shifting the spline. s l

6. The combination with a shaft having .a pulley loosely mounted thereon, collars on the shaft for retaining the pulleyagainst endwise movement, spring-pressed radial pins in the pulley, oi a spline slidably mounted in a key slot in the shaft arranged to be shifted into driving connection between two oi3 said pins and under a pin between said two pins, means on the shaft for restraining the spline against the shearing stresses oit the pins, said vspline having a wedge-shapedportion Hfor raising said last mentioned pin and means' for shifting said spline.

rfrlhe combinationwith a pulley and a -shaiit' to be connected thereto and disconnected therefrom, oi a collar secured to the sha'iit to prevent en'dwise movement in one direction oit the pulley along the shaft, a second collar secured to' the shaft on the other side of the pulley to prevent endwise movement 'of' the pulley-along the shaft in the other direction, `a tl'iird 'collar secured to the shaft, there being a space between lthe second and third collars, a springpressed pin on the pulley extending into the space between said' last mentioned collar,

'there being a spline seat in the shaft and ol? the pin and' to `be withdrawn therefrom,

and means for shiftingthe spline,

lin testimony of which invention, have hereunto set my hand, at Fl'iiladelphia, on this 2nd day of October, 1920.

nnnnr J; wiDMann. 

